Public Interest, Private Property by Anneke Smit and Marcia Valiante
Smit and Valiante, eds., Public Interest, Private Property: Law and Planning Policy in Canada, UBC Press, 12/7/2015
Windsor Law Faculty Editors: Anneke Smit and Marcia Valiante
Contributors: Deborah Curran, Pierre Filion, Jane Matthews Glenn, Harvey M. Jacobs, Anna Kramer, Eran S. Kaplinsky, Stanley M. Makuch, Ian Mathany, Stephen F. Waqué, and Bruce Ziff
Abstract:
At a time when pollution, urban sprawl, and condo booms are leading municipal governments to adopt prescriptive laws and regulations, this book lays the groundwork for a more informed debate between those trying to preserve private property rights and those trying to assert public interests.
Rather than asking whether community interests should prevail over the rights of private property owners, Public Interest, Private Property delves into the heart of the argument to ask key questions. Under what conditions should public interests take precedence? And when they do, in what manner should they be limited?
Drawing on case studies from across Canada, the contributors examine the tensions surrounding expropriation, smart growth, tree bylaws, green development, and municipal water provision. They also explore frustrations arising from the perceived loss of procedural rights in urban-planning decision making, the absence of a clear definition of "public interest," and the ambiguity surrounding the controls property owners have within a public-planning system.